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Friday, December 05, 2014

HO OH NO: Package Thieves Work Nearby Lakeview

As predicted, package thieves have been out in force this week. So far, most reports of thieves in action have come from outside of the immediate neighborhood:

• A bit to our north, in the 1900 block of Belle Plaine, witnesses saw “two younger Hispanic men” get out of a silver “Dodge of some sort” and steal a neighbor’s UPS delivery. That happened around noon on Tuesday.

• Closer to home, at 6 o’clock Tuesday, four people were seen running away with a package from a home in the 2900 block of Halsted.

• Around 8 o’clock Tuesday night, near Clark and Belle Plaine, a caller reported seeing a short Hispanic man with a cross-shoulder backpack get out of a black minivan to steal packages off of porches. A female passenger was “assisting.” The two may have been in the area delivering a free newspaper/ad circular pack.

• Yesterday afternoon, police were tipped off to a gray Mitsubishi that was circling around the area of Paulina and Berteau. A witness saw the vehicle’s occupants pick up packages from two separate homes. Officers were unable to locate the car.

With all the 2014 Technology & Surveillance out there, how difficult is it for a team of 2 - 4 cops to set up a couple boxes around the Boystown neighborhood outside a residence or business. It would take a mere 25 minutes for some thug to grab it and run (probably walk), with a cop 50 feet away from them to catch them. They could make a few arrests in just one shift, making a huge impact on this issue in just a few weeks around Christmas!!!! Hell, apparently the Mayor has millions of tax payer money to implement body cameras for thousands of cops, but he don't have the money for a few $50 buck GPS devices for Amazon and UPS boxes for this operation. Instead of "Bait Car", it would be "Bait Box." It's truly pathetic citizens on here have to come up with simple, easy-to-do suggestions cops should be doing for years! Am I missing something here? It's not brain science, its common sense. I can only guess those police tactical teams just want to run around and look pretty and impress the girls on Clark Street instead of actually being proactive and innovative in their policing.